NY designers break cliches

I wrote this for my school newspaper, of which I am the A&E editor. 

It "didn't apply to highschoolers lives enough because they couldn't care less about history," my teacher said. So I ended up styling a few looks that were everyday adaptations of runway looks (even though the runway looks were pretty everyday already, but that's suburbia for you).

I like the concept, but I don't know about the writing. Do you think it's a bit too rigid or common?

Alexander Wang- 

The Cliché: Basic clothes for young downtown girls and “models off duty.” 

How he broke it: Alexander Wang’s brand is expanding beyond the M.O.D. style he helped begin. His empire includes bags, shoes, jewelry, a diffusion line, menswear, and a plan to open 14 new stores in China over the next year-- all this and his brand is only five years old. He started with a platform of basics for the cool kids: baggy jeans, slouchy tees and leather jackets. Since then he’s been growing and refining it, but this season he hit the mark. 

He expanded his target customer to almost everyone. For working women he has long structured overcoats, pencil skirts and leather skirt suits. But these same pieces can be equally fitting for the twenty-something club kids for whom he’s known to design. Fur coats are actually zip-up hoodies, and puffer coats have gold hardware. It ended with a slew of party dresses and not-so-basic separates for everyone in between.

A majority of the fabrics were custom developed, something relatively new for Wang’s line, and a sign of his brand expansion. Fabrics that seemed to be plastic, rubber, or leather were actually laminated tweeds, shrink-wrapped leatherand rubber bonded to knits.

Altuzarra- 

The Cliché: French fashion consisting of only simplicity, black, and Parisian style

How he broke it: Born in Paris and based in New york, Joseph Altuzarra has a special sense of culture. According to Europedia.com, 1.5 million Maghrebs (Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians) live in France, and recent immigrants and their offspring account for 10% of the French population. France is often connoted with berets and baguettes, but a large piece of their culture is couscous and caftans.

Altuzarra took the basic Parisian garments and spiced them with hints of France’s other cultural side. For example one simple duffel coat got artisanal woven sleeves, a thick shearling body and gypsy-like coin embellishments. His brand is only three years old, and already he has mastered the basics of tailoring and styling enough to begin to play with established garments and make them his own. Of course, there were still chic black dresses and trousers, but they just served to round out the complete vision of French culture. 

This collection is a buyer’s dream. His many stockists, including Barney’s New York and online retailer Net-A-Porter, will delight in his collection’s range of casual and dressy looks for all different ages and lifestyles.

This season Altuzzara served to refresh with a new vision of French style, and the promise of a young designer who delivers talent.

Proenza Schouler-

The Cliché: Asian-inspired collections always turn to Chinoiserie and trite Asian references

How they broke it: Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCullough of Proenza Schouler got inspired by the East, but there wasn’t a single Chinese knot button, red and gold dragon print or obi belt in sight. The designers looked to martial arts for inspiration, both for Asian influences and an idea of protection. Many tops, skirts, and dresses were wrapped around the body and tied like karategis, the Japanese word for karate training uniforms. There was a lot of quilting similar to ancient samurai armor, and there was a tone of armor to the structured jackets folded almost like origami.

They managed to put all of this into the collection so subtly that is was not gimmicky in the slightest. Often travel-influenced collections become dependent on literal references and lack originality, but in this case, the Eastern references were just an added bonus. They sent out the same hip clothes with a New York energy they are known for, but just added a hint of Asian influence for a twist. As always, the construction and craftsmanship was impeccable, see the jackets and skirts made entirely of woven leather. 


*I would also add Thakoon, who is known for making nice dresses for nice women, like Michelle Obama. This season he was inspired by the red light district, and there was a more raw and perhaps hedonistic pulse to the black, red, and slitted clothes.